As well known, sheet metal piles are driven by a pile driver at a construction site into the ground or the bottom of a body of water, such as a stream or bay, for example. The sheet metal piles normally are of a channel or Z-shape in cross section and adjacent piles are interlocked to prevent separation of the driven piles thereby to provide a continuous wall. Adjacent side edges of adjacent piles interfit in an interlocking relation and the undriven raised pile must be vertically aligned with the adjacent driven pile for subsequent threading or stabbing to form the interlocking relation.
Heretofore, such as shown in U.S. Pat. No. 5,407,304 dated Apr. 18, 1995, a sheet pile threading device has been provided which is lifted by the undriven pile into a raised position for threading the lower end of the undriven pile onto the vertically aligned upper end of the driven pile while in a side by side relation.
After the lower end of the undriven pile clears the upper end of the driven pile, a workman at ground level actuates a laterally movable slide on the pile threading device to move the upper undriven pile laterally into a vertically aligned position with the subjacent side edge of the driven pile for threading the side edge of the undriven pile onto the side edge of the fixed driven pile. The accurate positioning and alignment of the side edges of the adjacent sheet piles for threading or stabbing eliminates the necessity of a workman being present adjacent the upper end of the driven pile thereby avoiding a possible safety hazard. It is important that the sheet piles be accurately aligned for registering of the interfitting side edges for threading so that a workman at a ground location below the raised undriven pile can easily move the undriven pile into accurate vertical alignment with the adjacent side edge of the driven pile.